Residential conveyancing fees

We offer many different services to our clients in relation to residential conveyancing work and when you make an enquiry for us to carry out work on your behalf, we will provide you with a written detailed estimate of costs, an idea of the timescale involved and we will update you if there are any changes. We are happy to meet with you to consider your requirements and how we may assist you.

Our residential conveyancing team consists of Teresa Lau, Susan Rymer and Lisa Smith. Our team has years of experience in delivering high quality work in all matters relating to residential conveyancing. The team has particular expertise in dealing with all aspects of freehold and leasehold property work including but not limited to undertaking sales, purchases, transfers, remortgages and lease extensions.

Please see the following fee examples set out below:

• Purchase of property
• Sale of property
• Transfer of property
• Mortgage or remortgage of property

Purchase of property (freehold or leasehold)

Our fees cover all work required to complete the purchase of your property including dealing with the registration at the Land Registry and dealing with the payment of Stamp Duty Land Tax (Land Transaction Tax if the property is in Wales). Our fees vary according to the value of the property being purchased and there may be further fees if we identify any additional work to be necessary over and above a straightforward purchase.

If you are purchasing a property partly funded by a mortgage, your lender will usually require us to act on their behalf. Please note unlike other many other conveyancers, we do not make any additional charge for acting for your lender.

The precise stages of a purchase may vary according to the circumstances, but the key stages include:

• Provide you with an experienced solicitor to carry out your work
• Check the finances are in place to fund the purchase including any mortgage
• Consider and advise on the contract documents
• Carry out appropriate searches eg local search, water search, environmental search, chancel search, bankruptcy search
• Obtain any additional documents required such as planning documents
• Make any additional enquiries of the seller
• Advise you in relation to all information received including mortgage conditions and if relevant the terms of lease (leasehold only)
• Obtain your signature to the contract and agree a completion date with you
• Exchange contracts
• Provide you with detailed statement of monies required to complete (including details of any apportionment of ground rent/service charge – leasehold only)
• Prepare Transfer
• Arrange for all funds to be provided by you and your lender
• Complete the purchase
• Satisfy Landlord’s notice requirements (leasehold only)
• Pay Stamp Duty Land Tax
• Register your ownership of the property at the Land Registry.

Stamp Duty Land Tax (SDLT) is a tax payable on the purchase of a property whether freehold or leasehold. The amount payable depends on the purchase price and the individual circumstances of the purchase such as whether the purchaser has other properties or is eligible for any relief such as first-time buyer’s relief. The amount can be calculated using a calculator available on HMRC’s website. We will advise you of the amount payable in respect of your purchase.

We have provided an example of a Freehold purchase and a Leasehold purchase to show the different costs applicable to each. In each example, it is assumed that the purchaser has no other property and is not eligible for first-time buyer’s relief and that completion was on 1st December 2018.

Freehold purchase example

Purchase price £375,000
Our fees £1,000 plus VAT or a total of £1,200
Administration fee for bank transfer £40 plus VAT or total of £48
Disbursements (costs payable to others)
Search fees (dependent on local authority) approximately £300 including VAT
Land Registry search fee £3 plus VAT
Bankruptcy search fees (per person) £2 plus VAT
Land Registration fee (paid via Land Registry portal) £135
Stamp duty land tax £3,750
Total costs and disbursements inclusive of VAT £5,439

Leasehold purchase example

Purchase price £375,000
Our fees £1,400 plus VAT or a total of £1,680
Administration fee for bank transfer £40 plus VAT or a total of £48
Disbursements (costs payable to others)
Search fees (dependent on local authority) approximately £300 including VAT
Land Registry search fee £3 plus VAT
Bankruptcy search fees (per person) £2 plus VAT
Land Registration fee (paid via Land Registry portal) £135
Stamp duty land tax £3,750
There may also be the following amounts to be paid:

• Notice of Transfer fee. Usually between £75 and £200 plus VAT
• Notice of Mortgage/Legal Charge fee. Usually between £75 to £200 plus VAT
• Deed of Covenant fee. Usually between £150 and £300 plus VAT
• Certificate of Compliance fee. Usually between £75 and £300 plus VAT

Total costs if all amounts payable at lower amount inclusive of VAT £6,369.

Please note that the exact amounts payable vary from property to property and an accurate figure can only be provided with sight of the documentation including the lease. Please also note that by purchasing a leasehold property there is likely to be both ground rent and service charge payable throughout your period of ownership and we will advise you in respect of this.

Sale of property (freehold or leasehold)

Our fees cover all work required to complete the sale of your property and including the redemption of any mortgage or charge. Our fees vary according to the value of the property being sold and there may be further fees if we identify any additional work to be necessary over and above a straightforward sale.

The precise stages of a sale may vary according to the circumstances, but the key stages include:

• Provide you with an experienced solicitor to carry out your work
• Prepare contract documents
• Obtain any planning documents, building regulations, certificates, warranties etc
• Send contract and documents to purchaser
• Respond to purchaser’s enquiries
• Obtain your signature to the contract and agree a completion date with you
• Exchange contracts
• Prepare detailed completion statement of monies required to complete (including details of any apportionment of ground rent/service charge – leasehold only)
• Complete sale upon receipt of all the purchase monies
• Discharge any mortgage or loan
• Pay balance of sale proceeds to you

We have provided an example of a freehold sale and a leasehold sale to show the different costs applicable to each.

Freehold sale example

Sale price £375,000
Our fees £900 plus VAT or a total of £1,080
Administration fee for bank transfer to redeem any mortgage or charge (per mortgage/charge) £40 plus VAT or £48 total
Administration fee for bank transfer to send balance of sale proceeds to you £40 plus VAT or a total of £48
Disbursements (costs payable to others)
Land Registry documents £6
Total costs assuming two bank transfers £1,182

Leasehold sale example

Sale price £375,000
Our fees £1,400 plus VAT or a total of £1,680
Administration fee for bank transfer to redeem any mortgage or charge (per mortgage/charge) £40 plus VAT or £48 total
Administration fee for bank transfer to send balance of sale proceeds to you £40 plus VAT or a total of £48
Disbursements (costs payable to others)
Land Registry documents £6
There may also be the following amounts to be paid:

• Sale management pack. Usually between £150 and £400 plus VAT
• Licence to assign. Usually between £150 and £300 plus VAT
• Contingency fee. Usually 1% of sale price (if applicable)
• Transfer fee. Usually 1% of sale price (if applicable)

Total costs assuming two bank transfers, sale management pack and licence to assign required at lower amounts £2,142.

Please note that the exact amounts payable vary from property to property and an accurate figure can only be provided with sight of the documentation including the lease.

How long will my purchase or sale take?

There are many factors which will affect how long your sale or purchase will take such as the length of the chain of sales and purchases of which your transaction forms part, whether anyone in the chain loses a buyer, problems with mortgage lenders, problems identified with the property. On average the process takes about 8 to 12 weeks. A lengthy chain may result in your transaction taking 12 to 16 weeks or longer. An extension to a lease at the time of purchasing or selling a leasehold property, may take significantly longer.

Potential additional costs

Our estimated fee for a purchase will be based on the information we are aware of at the time the fee is provided, usually this will be for a standard transaction. Unforeseen matters may come to light as a transaction proceeds such as defects in the title to the property, unreasonable delays from third parties, the need for indemnity policies, the need for a lease extension. If any matters arise, we will notify you and confirm to you whether we need to charge any additional fees, this will be confirmed in writing to you.

Transfer of property (freehold or leasehold)

Our fees cover all work required to complete the full or partial transfer of your property, including placing properties into joint names. There may be further fees payable if we identify any additional work to be necessary such as mortgages on the property, declarations of trust, additional advice on gifting, inheritance tax, deliberation deprivation etc.

The precise stages of a transfer may vary according to the circumstances, but the key stages include:

• Provide you with an experienced solicitor to advise you about the consequences of the transfer (if applicable) and thereafter with an experienced solicitor to carry out your work
• Liaise with freeholder/management company (leasehold only)
•  Prepare transfer for signature
• Prepare declaration of trust (if required)
• Register transfer at Land Registry
• Provide notice of transfer and any other documentation necessary to freeholder/management company (leasehold only)

We have provided an example of a Freehold transfer and a Leasehold transfer with no mortgage to show the different costs applicable to each.

Freehold transfer example

Our fees £500 plus VAT or a total of £600
Disbursements (costs payable to others)
Land Registry documents £6 plus VAT
Land Registration fee – ranges from £20 to £60
Total costs assuming lower fee £631.20

Leasehold transfer example

Our fees £500 plus VAT or a total of £600
Our fees for dealing with freeholder/management company £250 plus VAT or a total of £300
Disbursements (costs payable to others)
Land Registry documents £6 plus VAT
Land Registration fee – ranges from £20 to £60
There may also be the following amounts to be paid:

•  Notice of transfer fee. Usually between £75 and £200 plus VAT
• Deed of Covenant fee. Usually between £150 and £300 plus VAT
• Certificate of Compliance fee. Usually between £75 and £300 plus VAT.

Total fees assuming payment of transfer and other fees at lower rate £1,287.20

How long will my transfer take?

A standard transfer can be concluded in between 2 to 4 weeks but there may be other factors which increase this length of time such as the need for additional advice, delays by freeholder/management company, dealing with lenders etc.

Mortgage or remortgage of property (freehold or leasehold)

Our fees cover all work required to complete the mortgage or remortgage of your property and including the redemption of any existing mortgage or charge. Our fees vary according to the value of the property being sold and there may be further fees if we identify any additional work to be necessary over and above a straightforward mortgage or remortgage.

The precise stages of a mortgage or remortgage may vary according to the circumstances, but the key stages include:

• Provide you with an experienced solicitor to carry out your work
• Obtaining and advising on documentation
• Checking title to property
• Carry out appropriate searches (if required by lender)
• Liaise with freeholder/management company (leasehold only)
• Obtaining redemption figures for existing mortgage
• Preparing detailed statement for you of funds required to complete the mortgage or remortgage
• Obtaining signature to mortgage documents
• Requesting funds from new lender
• Discharging any existing mortgage or loan
• Registering new mortgage or charge
• Paying any remaining funds to you

We have provided an example of a Freehold remortgage and a Leasehold remortgage where we are dealing with a standard high street lender to show the different costs applicable to each.

Freehold remortgage example

Our fees £650 plus VAT or a total of £780
Administration fee for bank transfer to redeem mortgage or charge (per mortgage or charge) £40 plus VAT or a total of £48
Administration fee for bank transfer to any balance to you £40 plus VAT or a total of £48
Disbursements (costs payable to others)
Land Registry documents £6 plus VAT
Bankruptcy search (per person) £2 plus VAT
Land Registry fee ranges from £20 to £125 depending on the value

Leasehold remortgage example

Our fees £750 plus VAT or a total of £900
Administration fee for bank transfer to redeem mortgage or charge (per mortgage or charge) £40 plus VAT or a total of £48
Administration fee for bank transfer to any balance to you £40 plus VAT or a total of £48
Disbursements (costs payable to others)
Land Registry documents £6 plus VAT
Bankruptcy search (per person) £2 plus VAT
Land Registry fee ranges from £20 to £125 depending on the value

How long will my remortgage take?

A standard remortgage may be concluded in between 4 to 6 weeks but there may be other factors which increase this length of time such as the need for additional advice, delays by
freeholder/management company, dealing with lenders, non standard lenders etc.